First T-Ball Game!

This past Thursday, Kade had his first t-ball game down at Finke Field. I can't believe he is old enough for t-ball already. I have to say that the game was quite entertaining. Their team consists of ten 5 year olds, most of whom have never picked up a baseball. They all did pretty well hitting off of the tee and running the bases, but their defense needs a little work. Dane and his long time friend from high school, Cody Stelter, are coaching the team together. Their team name is the "Express." Although some time, patience and little extra coaching is needed with these little guys, I think they have the concept of the game down. Offensively they know to hit the ball and run to first base, and defensively they know to try and stop the ball and get the out at first. They will all continue to learn and improve as the season rolls on.

Kade and Coach Dad


Kade, Ian, and Kaden


Dawson, Kade, and Eric


Warming Up


First at bat


On third getting ready to score

Future T-Baller!

He may be the little brother right now, but he sure thinks he can do everything his big brother can. Now that Kade is old enough to play t-ball, Dane has really been practicing with him in the yard at home in the afternoons. Brady makes sure that he gets in on some of the action as well. He actually does pretty good especially at hitting off of the tee. A few days ago, he got Kade's helmet and bat and took his turn at hitting a bucket of ball off of the tee. He'll for sure be an athlete as well. Let the good times keep on rolling.

Story Time with Nana!

The boys most definitely love their Nana Rau. They always look forward to seeing her. The one thing they love for Nana to do with them is read them stories. Whenever she comes over to the house, they have books ready to read. A few weeks ago, Dane went out of town, and Nana came over to stay the night with us. Below are a couple of pictures of Nana and the boys have story time before bed time.

Our Little Bull Rider!

With his right hand in the air, his cowboy hat on, we hear "OK boys," and he is out of the shoot trying to hold on for eight seconds before he gets bucked off. That is pretty much the norm around our house with Brady. We have been in this bull riding phase with him for about a year now. It is a phase that I thought would last only a short while, but boy was I wrong. We are still going full force with this one. About this time last year he started watching the PBR on television and became hooked. Today he knows most of the names of all the professional bull riders as well as the names of most of the bulls, and he isn't even three years old now. He'll say things like "I'm J.B. Mauney, and I'm riding Chicken on a Chain," or "I'm Austin Meier, and I'm riding Nasty Town. That's a nasty name for a nasty bull, Mama." I'm fine with this phase at this stage in his life, but I really hope it wears off by the time he is actually old enough to ride bulls.

Brady getting ready to ride a bull

St. Paul's Rodeo

Every year St. Paul's Christian Day School puts on a little rodeo with all the kids. This year was Brady's first rodeo. He is not, let's say, as social as Kade is. He is more reserved and quiet, so I wasn't sure how he would do at the rodeo especially when he spotted Mommy there. He walked in very cocky and confident. He was leading the class in and he was the man. He sat right down and was ready rodeo. So now I'm thinking "he's going to do ok." Wrong. They did a wagon ride first, and when he came around and saw Mommy, that was it. He started crying and refused to do participate in the stick horse race or anything else that had anything to do with the rodeo.
Kade, however, did great. He was ready and more than willing to participate in his events. They did a river crossing race and a couple of other activities as well.

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo!

Saturday, March 6th we went to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo with Hardy family and the Stolz family. It was the perfect day to go to the Rodeo; it was warm and sunny, but very crowded. If it weren't for the nightmarish parking and the thousands and thousands of people there, it would have been the perfect rodeo trip, but you can't have it all. The kids had a great time. I think as parents, we were just paranoid of losing them in the crowd. Nevertheless, they all listened to us and stayed close to us throughout the day. We had tickets to the rodeo and Jason Aldean. Before the rodeo, we bought his newest CD so the boys would be familiar with some of his songs. By the time the rodeo came around, Kade and Brady both had "Big Green Tractor" and "She's Country" down pat. Brady is our little cowboy, so he enjoyed the rodeo; well the part of it that he managed to stay awake for. He took a siesta halfway through the rodeo. All the kids enjoyed the concert. They had fun singing, dancing, and eating a whole lot of junk food. Even though it was a great day, I have to say it was one of those "been there, done that" kind of things. Not that we won't ever go back, but it won't be anytime soon.

Jenna, Kade, & Leah

Getting up close & personal with some of the animals

Cotton Candy YUM! YUM!

Kade and Jenna watching the rodeo

All worn out!

Jason Aldean

Willie the Robot!

Every week in Kade's Ocean Treasure class, they have a letter of the week. A couple of weeks ago was the letter "R." They were assigned to build a robot to bring that Friday for show and tell. Kade, Dane, and I spent one evening putting together "Willie" the Tin Man. I think he turned out pretty good. Kade was proud of his robot anyway.